Mahmoud Darwish: I Do Not Sleep To Dream

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I do not sleep to dream,
she told him. I sleep to forget you.
How good it is to sleep alone,
soundless in silk. Withdraw, so that I may see you
alone there. Think of me while I forget you.
I feel no pain from your absence;
neither the night nor your lips scratch my breast.
I sleep in my body utterly, sharing with no one.
Your hands do not tear my dress, nor do your feet.
Your feet knock against my heart like a rifle
as you shut the door.
I am in need of nothing in your absence.
My breasts are my own, my navel, my freckles, my mole,
my hands and my legs are my own.
Everything of mine is mine.
Keep the sensual pictures you took,
take them to entertain your exile,
and raise your fantasies like
a last toast. Say, if you wish, that passion is mortal.
But I shall listen to my body,
quietly, like a doctor. Nothing, nothing in your absence
causes me pain, except for the isolation of being!
🔸 Mahmoud Darwish
Translated by Mohammad Shaheen
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